Lionel Smoke Unit Issue

I would pull the boiler shell off and get into the smoke unit. Check for any obstruction such as the wicking could be into the fan blades. Re pack it and re assemble .Also maybe the smoke funnel could out of alignment?... Nick

I did put a drop of oil on the moter and took the fan off and put it back on and it worked fine for a little then the smoke went back to that weird still look. I may just replace the motor but I’m not sure if I need to.

I would say the smoke unit screws are not tight and smoke is leaking from the gasket. Looks like plenty of smoke when the engine is stopped, so I would say the motor is OK.

Looks like normal operation to me.  The synchronized "puff" feature isn't activated when the engine isn't moving, so the smoke drifts out, just like the real thing.  All my MTH engines operate in this manner.

Regarding your other Legacy engines not smoking this way, I'll guess the fan shuts down when the engine stops.  Is the "A" newer than the others?  Lionel may have made a change in the smoke operation.

Looks pretty normal to me too, the smoke unit heat is turned down by the voltage regulator when you're stopped, so you get less smoke.  I believe the fan is turned down as well, that's what I do with the Super-Chuffer for idle smoke.

Steam Crazy posted:

Looks like normal operation to me.  The synchronized "puff" feature isn't activated when the engine isn't moving, so the smoke drifts out, just like the real thing.  All my MTH engines operate in this manner.

Regarding your other Legacy engines not smoking this way, I'll guess the fan shuts down when the engine stops.  Is the "A" newer than the others?  Lionel may have made a change in the smoke operation.

Yea my “A” is the newest engine I have but I do remember the smoke not coming out like that. I had just pulled it out of storage to run it and I noticed the smoke was like this.